Rail anchor



March 27, 1962 3/ FIGI.

E. ORSHANSKY, JR

RAIL ANCHOR Filed Jan. 12, 1959 3,027,093 Patented Mar. 27, 1962 3,027,093 RAIL ANCHOR Elias Orshansky, In, New York, N .Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Seai-Kap Corporation of Delaware, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 12, 1959, Ser. No. 786,129 4 Claims. (Cl. 238-627) This invention relates to railway rail anchors, and more particularly to a one-piece anchor of this class.

Among the several objects of the invention are the provision of a one-piece rail anchor adapted, when appropriately attached to a rail, to prevent rail creep; the provision of a rail anchor of the class described in which any incipient creep tends to cant the anchor and increases the force with which the anchor is attached to the rail; the provision of an anchor of this class in which any force applied by incipient creep occurs with a minimum of anchor tilt which might otherwise loosen the attachment of the anchor to the rail; and the provision of an anchor of the class described which is economical to produce and simple to apply in appropriate positions adapted to resist rail creep in either of opposite directions. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope of which will be indicated in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one of various possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the anchor.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of the anchor.

FIGURE 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 of FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a cross section of a rail showing the anchor in dotted lines in an angled starting position for applying the anchor to the rail, and in solid lines in a horizontal final position of the rail anchor on the rail.

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal section on line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

The anchor may be formed of any suitable metal such as, for example, pearlitic malleable iron, grade SAE 6003, and comprises an elongated body 1 of T-section forming an upper flat elongated pad element 2 about inch or so in depth D, adapted to engage the underside of a flange 3 of a rail R. Elongate element 2 is terminated at one end by an upstanding lug 5 having an inside vertical shoulder element 7 terminating in a beveled portion 9. The other end of portion 2 terminates in a return bend hook element 11. Hook 11 has an upper face 13 with an upwardly inclined terminal 15. A transverse relief channel 17 connects the element 2 with the hook element 11. A flange i9 depends from element 2 substantially throughout the length of the latter and continues around hook 11, providing the anchor with a T- shape cross section. Shoulder 7 is adapted for engagement with a vertical side edge 21 of the rail flange 3. The curved inside wall 23 of book 11 opposes shoulder 7. The median longitudinal axis 25 of flange 19 is inclined approximately 5 with respect to a perpendicular 27 to shoulder 7. This angle is indexed A.

Adjacent lug 5 flat portion 2 extends horizontally at one side to form a wing 29 of depth about equal to that of the portion 2. Wing 29 has a flat margin 31 paralleling plane 27, that is to say, perpendicular to shoulder 7. Adjacent hook 11 the opposite side of body portion 2 extends horizontally to form a wing 33 of depth about equal to that of the portion 2. This wing 33 has a flat margin 35 paralleling plane 27 and margin 31. Preferably, though not necessarily, the wings 29 and 33 are of the same shape or outline, though inverse in relation to axis 25. It is desirable that they shall be of small depth, preferably about equal to that of the flat portion 2. The depth here referred to is that indexed D.

The bevel 9 on shoulder 7 is preferably, though not necessarily, on the order of 45. The angle of hook terminal 15 relative to the flat top face 13 is approximately equal to the bevel of the top of rail flange 3, or approximately 14, as indicated at B.

Application of the anchor to a rail is illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5. This is accomplished by pushing the pad-forming portions 2, 29, 33 under rail flange 3 and applying hook 11 over one side of the rail flange. Thus the sloping flange face 37 of the rail is engaged by the tip 39 of the hook and the bevel 9 engages the lower corner of the opposite edge 21 of the rail flange, as shown by dotted lines in FIGURE 4. Then by upward pressure on the bottom of the anchor beneath lug 5, the lug 5 is raised until shoulder 7 springs into engagement with the rail flange edge 21. Bevel portion 9 functions as a cam to draw the anchor into a position wherein the opposite rail flange is wedged between the hook terminal 15 and the flat body portion 2. The force for effecting this wedging action is provided by the tight engagement of shoulder 7 with the rail flange edge 21. The distance E between the opposite edges of the rail flange is less than the distance F between opposing inner surfaces of the anchor when installed. In other words, there is clearance between the inside of hook I1 and the edge of the rail flange which passes through the hook. This allows the wedging action of the hook to take place on the sloping side of the adjacent rail flange.

The anchor is applied to the rail in a position wherein the margin 31 of wing 29 is adjacent a vertical tie face 41, (FIGURE 5) or the corresponding edge of a tie plate 42, or wherein the margin 35 of wing 33 is adjacent a vertical tie face 43, or the corresponding edge of a tie plate 44, depending upon the direction of expected rail creep to be resisted. Ordinarily, adjacent vertical tie surfaces such as 41 and 43 are not as close as shown in FIGURE 5, being more widely separated so that only one or the other of the wings 29 or 33 will make contact with the appropriate tie face, as called for by the direction of creep which it is desired to resist. Flange 19 is deep enough to engage the side of the tie, even though wing 29 or 33 should slide over the tie or the tie plate.

When incipient creep occurs tending to force wing 29 against an opposing tie or plate surface, there will be a tendency to cant the anchor in a horizontal plane under the rail. This has the effect of more tightly wedging it to the rail flange. The direction of cant is shown by the curved darts C1 and C-2 in FIGURE 5. Dart C-l corresponds to incipient upward creep and dart 0-2 to incipient downward creep in this figure. Upon incipient upward creep, the center of anchor rotation is at M with a holding bite occurring at N. Upon incipient downward creep in FIGURE 5, the center of anchor rotation is at N with a holding bite occurring at M.

A feature of the invention consists in the fact that the reactive thrust between margin 31 and an opposing surface or between margin 35 and an opposing surface lies in a plane close to the bottom of rail flange 3. Thus there is very little tendency to tilt the anchor in a vertical plane. Such tilt would be increased if the contact with the tie where made lower down, as for example, in the region of flange 1?. According to the invention, the thrust, due to reaction caused by incipient creep, has a larger horizontal canting component tending to tighten the anchor on the rail than any vertical tilting component tending to work it loose. It is for this reason that the depth of the pad formed by the top portions of the anchor (2, 29, 33) is a minor fraction of the depth of flange 19. For example, a pad depth of about inch corresponds to a flange depth of about 1%. inches.

The one-piece construction is easy to cast or otherwise form and a minimum amount of material is involved. Therefore, the anchor is economical to produce. Moreover, the operations required for applying it are simple.

While the anchor described has two Wings 29 and 33 for application to resisting creep in either of two different directions while having the book 11 always placed on one side of a rail, it will be understood that similar anchors may be made with only one or the other of the wings 29 or 33 for resisting creep in either of two different directions by positioning the hook portion 11 on one side or the other of a rail, as required.

'In view of the above, it Will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

Various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, and it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A one-piece rail anchor comprising an elongated body having a flat top portion and a flange depending therefrom forming a T cross section to underlie a rail flange and having an upstanding shoulder element at one end engageable with one edge of the rail flange and a return hook element at the other end, said shoulder and hook being spaced apart to receive between them the rail flange with clearance inside the hook and the adjacent upright edge of the rail flange, and wings of depths approximately equal to that of said fiat top portion extending transversely from said body in opposite directions at the opposite ends of the body, each Wing being disposed to engage the upright side of an opposing railsupporting member, whereby the anchor may be canted horizontally along the rail as the rail creeps across a supporting member.

' 2. A one-piece rail anchor according to claim 1 where in the longitudinal axis of said elongated body, including its depending flange, is inclined from a perpendicular to the rail engaging face of the shoulder.

3. A one-piece rail anchor comprising an elongated body of T-section disposed to underlie a rail and having an upstanding shoulder at one end, and a wedge-forming return hook at the other end, the opposing faces of the shoulder and hook being substantially parallel and spaced apart to receive between them the edges of a rail flange, the distance between said faces between greater than the perpendicular distance between the edges of the rail flange to provide clearance during application of the anchor to the rail and a wedging action of the hook on the sloping upper part of the rail flange, said T-section forming an upper flat portion of the body and a lower reinforcing rib therefor, said rib extending around the hook, transverse extensions from said upper flat portion of the body, said extensions being located near the shoulder and hook respectively and lying substantially in the plane of said upper flat portion.

4. A one-piece rail anchor according to claim 3, wherein the depths of said extensions are substantially equal to the depth of said upper flat portion of the body, said body being elongated in a direction at an angle deviating a small amount from a line perpendicular to said margins.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,112,224 McCooe Sept. 29, 1914 1,216,256 Vaughan Feb. 13, 1917 1,240,674 Clawson Sept. 18, 1917 1,430,584 Preston Oct. 3, 1922 1,433,639 Moore Oct. 31, 1922 1,625,938 Gifford Apr. 26, 1927 1,746,820 Cook Feb. 11, 1930 2,491,362 Dayton Dec. 13, 1949 2,511,062 Hyle et al June 13, 1950 2,571,565 Grant Oct. 16, 1951 2,719,008 Rupport Sept. 27, 1955 

